LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: BOAT WOULD SHOWCASE RIVER

To the Editor:

What kind of total economic impact would the Boyd Group's riverboat casino and dockside development have on the Cape area?

Pauline Fox, professor of economics at SEMO, using a very conservative multiplier of two, has done a study that indicates the 1994 capital expenditure phase would produce a total economic impact of $31.2 million.

Further calculations:

In the first full year of operation, the Boyd Group would provide a payroll of $16.1 million (Boyd now estimates this at $22 million). Keep in mind that Missouri law requires riverboat employees to be paid at least 25 percent higher than the federal minimum wage. Secondary employees: A payroll of $12 million. Local operational costs: $13.6 million. Visitor expenditures while in the Cape area: $36 million (which Professor Fox believes is quite conservative).

Total, with a multiplier of two applied: $148.6 million.

Five year total: $594.4 million, assuming no growth. With a 2.5 percent annual growth, the five-year total rises to $632.5 million.

For tourist-gaming expenditures to grow, the community will have to undertake efforts to make the area more tourist-oriented. Gaming interests tell us the tour bus visitors don't just want to ride the boat when they come calling: They like historic downtowns, such as St. Charles offers, and shopping malls and restaurants and other forms of entertainment.

Obviously, the tourism-recreation industry is expanding. Branson has put Missouri on the map. Kansas City and St. Louis have long been destinations but now each is planning major recreation developments that will make use of two natural wonders that have, until now, never been fully utilized: the Missouri and Mississippi rivers .

More than a dozen other river towns are already taking steps to become major destinations for the motoring public. Cape Girardeau can become the major destination in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois if it approves riverboat gaming. Get the facts, and vote them Nov. 2.

Bill Howard

Cape Girardeau